Uncle Jack
by oORunningRiverEndlessSkyOo
Summary: This is a new side of Jack, one that Bunny thinks would be ok to get used to.


**Hey guys. I'm back! I am so sorry that I have been gone for so long, and I can't promise that I won't do it again. Also, I know I should be working on Avenger Korra, but I can't help myself. The plot bunnies went the other direction. So here, read this in the meantime, and I absolutely promise that I am not abandoning Avenger Korra. I just have to wait until my muse decides to work for that story again. **

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It was early summer, and Jack and Bunny were both lounging around at the North Pole, for two distinct reasons. Bunny had just finished with his own holiday, and so had at least until the leaves began to change before he needed to seriously start planning for Easter. And Jack, Jack was just _hot. _Sure they were at the North Pole, but it was summer in a large half of the world, at least the part he hung out in most often, and he was not feeling the greatest.

Tooth and Sandy were busy with their various jobs, and North was feverishly trying to work out the last few months to Christmas. As it was, Jack was bored, and Bunny was lonely, so they were hanging out together.

Or, they were trying. Jack kept having to dive out of the open window to cool down in a snow drift, and Bunny was laughing and poking fun at him whenever he came back in.

"Oh, stop," Jack complained. "It's not my fault that I get warm when the sun stays out longer."

"But mate, you should see ya jumpin' around like a rabbit, in and out." The large rabbit laughed uproariously.

Jack flopped down on the windowsill, lazily sending a breeze of cold air at the Pooka, not caring when he missed. They had become pretty good friends in the last few months, and their bickering was mostly good natured.

They settled down, Jack dozing off and Bunny painting an egg purely out of habit. It may still be awhile until Easter, but he loved to paint eggs no matter what the season.

Suddenly, Jack gave a pained gasp and bolted upright. Bunny startled, blinking at him over his paintbrush.

"Mate? What's goin' on?"

Jack didn't answer, only gripped his upper arm tightly. Bunny saw him, if possible, go even paler than normal.

"Mate?"

Jack blinked, as if remembering he was there. Then a change came over the teen, and Bunny's back stiffened slightly. This was a new Jack, one that Bunny had never seen before.

"Bunny." His voice was pure ice, but not from anger. It sounded… worried. "Can you keep up with me?" Usually Bunny would take that as a challenge, but this was different. This was a request. And Bunny nodded.

"Good. Let's go." And without a moment's thought, Jack gripped his staff and flew out the window.

Bunny bounded along beneath Jack as he flew low over the snowy landscape, but something began to dawn in the back of the Pooka's brain as they moved.

They were headed south. South was hot. Jack couldn't do hot.

"Frosty, why are we goin' down here?"

"We have to, Bunny." His voice brooked no argument.

"'Kay, Mate. I trust you."

Jack smiled briefly, but never slowed in his mad dash southward. They just kept going. Past the places that were still mildly cool, past the warm climates, and straight towards the tropics.

Bunny kept glancing up at the winter spirit every now and then, worried about the way he was drooping lower and lower. By the time they came to the tip of Florida, he was nearly dragging the ground.

Then, he abruptly landed. Bunny stopped, watching the boy cast his glance around, with one hand on his upper arm.

Then he called out. "Ice!" He listened.

"Ice? Where are you?" Bunny watched the winter sprite's brow crinkle in frustration, and hopped a little closer to the boy.

"Jack, what are you…" He was shushed by the teen, who's face suddenly lit up. He darted forward, crouching in the shade of a low bush. Bunny followed him over, but gasped at what he saw.

A young girl lay in the dirt, about ten years old by the looks of her. She had white hair tied up in a messy ponytail, but her skin wasn't nearly as white as Jacks. Bunny knew instinctively that this was bad. He glanced at Jack, and froze at what he saw.

The young boy was calm and collected, carefully checking the girl's pulse and feeling her forehead. Then he glanced at Bunny.

"Can you get us back to the Pole really fast?"

The Pooka just nodded, before watching the spirit scoop the smaller one into his arms. Bunny couldn't help but gape at this as well. Jack held the child as if it was comfortable, something he did all the time. When Bunny had held Sophie, he had been trying not to break her. Jack held this young one as if the girl belonged there, cradling her just right.

The urgency in Jack's gaze made him hurry, and he opened up a hole in the ground quickly. They bounded through the tunnels, taking as many shortcuts as Bunny could think of. Not ten minutes later they were surfacing into the cold and frosty Pole, and Jack was darting for the nearest snowdrift.

"Come, on, Icicle, wake up." The boy was covering the child with ice, heaping snow over her like a blanket.

After a few minutes, his frenzy calmed. Jack sat back and blew some hair out of his eyes. Then he looked at Bunny.

"I probably owe you an explanation for carting you halfway around the globe." Jack said sheepishly.

Bunny snorted. "Ya think, Frostbite?"

"Yeah." Jack sighed. He smiled fondly at the tiny girl tucked into the snow.

"She was created seventy five years ago. She's a winter spirit, like me, and I was there when she was created. She's only nine years old, but she's smart as a whip and so creative. Her favorite thing to make is icicles, so that's what I call her. She calls me Uncle Jack."

"Uncle Jack?"

"Well, she tried to call me dad, but I had to draw a line somewhere."

"I taught her everything I knew. She followed me around like a puppy. I helped her find food, made her laugh, told her stories. When she had nightmares, or she was scared, she would come to me."

Bunny watched the white haired boy pack more snow around the small figure. It was strange. The boy was acting so… paternal. Bunny shook his head in wonder. Sometimes, it was easy to forget who Jack was. Sure, he could be an annoying teenage boy, who played tricks and pouted with the best of them, but he _had _been alive for more than three hundred years. He was more mature than a lot of people thought.

"How did you know she was in danger?"

Jack smiled, hand moving automatically to his arm. "She made me this." He rolled up his sleeve to show Bunny an armband made purely out of ice. Bunny leaned in, noticing the runes carved into the ice.

"It connects me to her. She had one from me on her ankle. A couple decades ago, she started to grow up, at least mentally. She wanted to get out on her own, see the world. I didn't want her to." Jack smiled ruefully at the snow covered lump.

"She fought like a blizzard. It was brutal. I was scared she would get hurt, so I did some research and came up with these. It gets really cold when one of us is in danger, and gets continually warmer as we get closer to the other."

Bunny gaped at Jack. "I had no idea you were that smart, mate."

Jack snorted. "Yeah, well, you play dumb long enough, and everyone starts to believe it." His gaze turned worried as he looked at the other spirit.

"Hey, she'll be ok. She just needs to cool off." The Easter Bunny tried to console his friend. Bunny wasn't without knowledge, either, and he knew that the winter girl needed to recover from the summer heat before she could wake up. Jack nodded, still watching the girl closely.

They sat there for a long while, waiting for the young girl to wake up. She shifted a few times, whimpered once, and Jack just moved in closer to brush her hair out of her face and whisper in her ear. She would settle almost immediately, and Bunny was in awe. Despite being a Guardian, he had never felt comfortable around kids, and here was the youngest of them all, acting like a concerned parent. It warmed the older rabbits heart.

Finally, the young spirit blinked her eyes open, revealing piercing grey eyes. Jack blew out a breath in relief, and watched as the Ice locked eyes with him.

"Uncle Jack?" Her voice sounded so very young.

"Hey there, Icicle. Glad to see your awake." Jack grinned lopsidedly.

The young girl groaned, trying to sit up. Jack helped her brush some snow off of her lap, helping her settle her back against the snow bank. "What happened?"

Jack scowled at her.

"Well, for starters, some upstart little spirit decided to go to Florida in the _middle of the summer!" _

The small spirit grinned impishly. In that moment, Bunny could have sworn she looked just like Jack.

"Sorry. I thought it would be fun."

"_Fun?! _You thought that scaring me out of my mind would be _FUN?_" Jack sat back on his heels, crossing his arms at the sprite.

"I didn't mean to pass out, it was just a little hotter than I expected it to be!" Icicle was trying to protest her case, but Jack wasn't having any of it.

"Yes, and what have I told you about playing in heat?"

The girl averted her gaze down to her lap. "To not to."

Jack sighed, placing his hand under her chin and lifting her head. "Look at me, Ice. I tell you these things because I care about you, ok? There is a reason the Man in the Moon made us winter spirits and not summer spirits. The only sand we were made to come into contact with is Sandy's. It's just not who we are."

The girl nodded. She sighed, swinging to her feet with a small puff of wind. Jack rose with her, pulling her hair ribbon out and finger combing out her white locks. As he brushed it back, he spoke to her.

"Now, I don't want you to go anywhere near the equator for the rest of the summer, all right? Hang out in Siberia or something. If you need me, I'll most likely be here until mid-Fall, ok?" He tied her ribbon off with a neat bow, turning her around to face him.

She looked up at him, studying his face. After a moment, she nodded. "All right." She wrinkled her nose. "It wasn't even that much fun anyway. I don't know why people say the beach is so much fun. Snow is _way _better."

Jack laughed and drew the tiny figure into a hug, resting his chin on her head as she wrapped thin arms around him. Jack felt as if she released him all too soon. He stepped back, keeping his hands on her shoulders.

"Now, stay cool, okay? No more warm field trips for at least five years."

The young spirit nodded her tiny head, new ponytail bobbing up and down.

"Stay safe, Uncle Jack. I'll see you in September."

Jack grinned, summoning a twist of wind to toss her into the air. She laughed, before waving at him. He kept his hand into the air until she was out of sight, sighing heavily.

Bunny snorted. Jack jumped violently, having forgotten he was there.

"What?"

"Nothin', mate. But you took care of her, told her off, and fixed her hair. Are you sure she shouldn't be callin' you dad?"

Jack scowled, and Bunny let out a bark of good natured laughter. He laughed and laughed, but was interrupted by a snowball to the face. Jack smirked at him, bouncing another snowball in his hand.

"Oh, you are so in for it now, Snowflake."

As they rushed off, Bunny thought fondly, _Some things never change. _


End file.
